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(No Model.)

H. L. PERRIS FEED BOX.

No. 598,563. Patented Feb. 8,1898.

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HENRY L. FERRIS, OF HARVARD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO HUNT, HELM & FERRIS,OF SAME PLACE.

FEED-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 598,563, dated February8, 1898. Application filed February 13, 1897. Serial No. 623,340. (Nomodel.)

also tend to check the rapid eating of thesame, to the end that it maybe more thoroughly masticated. In this view I aim to save both in theactual feeding of the animal and in the assimilation of the food afterit is eaten.

The drawings show four figures of the preferred form of my feed-box, inwhich Figure.

1 is a front view of the same. Fig. 2 is a vertical section in line 2 2of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the box, and Fig. 4 is a brokenperspective designed especially to show the manner of hinging themovable parts of the same.

In the drawings, A is a back portion to which the parts of the feed-boxproper are secured. Said back portion is provided with a keyhole-shapedopening a, by means of which the back may be hung upon a nail or bookwhen it is desired to do so. In a great many cases it will be possibleto dispense with this back entirely when the feed-box is to be securedagainst the side of a barn or a partition thereof and to remain in thesame place. In such cases any tight wall or partition will obviouslyanswer all the purposes of this back.

The main body portion of the feed-box Bis preferably provided withlaterally-projecting ears I) b 12 5 which may be secured to the back Aor'any other tight and substantially fiat surface by means of bolts orscrews 0. Said body portion is here shown as consisting of a rectangularthree-sided vertical trough having a front portion b and side portions bb, respectively. The shape of the upper portion of this trough isimmaterial, being here shown as fiat to receive a hinged lid D, which ishinged to the side portions of the box b b by means of notches b oformed in the rear edges of these side portions and laterally-projectinglugs d, projecting in opposite directions from the rear portions of theedges of the door. These lugs are dropped into the notches of the sidesbefore the back A is secured to the portion B and are thereafterconfined within said notches by said back.

The bottom of the box or trough D is preferably. inclined downwardlyaway from the backA, and a hinged bottom E is hinged at the rear of thesame by means of lugs b b extending outwardly and horizontally from therear of the lower edges of the sides b b and by means of hooks e e uponthe rear por tion of the bottom E, said hooks beingopen toward the frontof the feed-box and being also placed upon the lugs before theattachment of the back and held in place by said back. The bottom ispreferably provided at its sides with upwardlyextending vertical flangesc 6 embracing the vertical trough or box B, and in front of said boxextends downward and forward in the shape of a horizontal trough eclosed at the ends and shaped to enable an animal to eat grain easilyand conveniently therefrom. The entire bottom is yieldingly pressedagainst the bottom of the box B by means of a connecting-bolt F, heresecured in the front of said box and extending therefrom at an anglethrough the hinged bottom in a line which is preferably substantiallynormal thereto. Below the bottom the bolt is provided with a nut f,between which and the under side of a bottom is a coiled spring G. Thepressure of said spring upon the bottom tends to hold it against thebox, and said pressure may be varied and the limit of motion of thebottom changed as desired by the adjustment of the nut upon the end ofthe bolt. At the bottom of the front of the box B, I prefer to doublesaid front portion, extending one part b in a straight-line or evenrearwardly, if preferred, to act as a cutofi for the feed, and anotherportion b? forwardly and downwardly to rest against the bottom near theextreme lower portion thereof and to compel the animal to eat its feedin said lower portion.

In operation the feed is placed within the box through the top thereofand a small portion thereof allowed to roll down "into the trough e by aslight downward pressure upon said trough. The animal commences to eatthis food and when the same is nearly exhausted the effort to pick upthe remainder causes the animal to exert suflicient downward pressureupon the trough to overcome the force of the spring G and allow more ofthe feed to roll down. This operation is continned until all of the feedis exhausted. The advantages of the same are twofold. In the first placeit is impossible for the animal to get sufficient feed into the opentrough to either Waste the same or pick it up in too large mouthfuls.Economy in the feed as well as more complete mastication of the same istherefore attained.

I recognize the possibility of great variation in form, construction,and arrangement, and I therefore desire to limit myself only as clearlypointed out in the following claims.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combinationof the feed-box, l3, having its lower portion inclined downward andforward, the bottom, E, hinged to the lower rear portion of the boX andextending beyond the front of. the same in the form of an open trough, 6the bolt, F, secured in the front, B,

and extending therefrom at an angle through the bottom, E, and bearingbelow the same the spring, G, and the adjusting nut, f, adapted toconfine the spring between itself and the bottom and both limit themotion of said bottom and regulate the pressure of the spring;substantially as described.

2. The combination with a suitable back, A, of a box, B, having thenotches, b 19 in the upper rear portions of its sides and lugs, t b uponthe lower rear portion of said sides, the lid, D, hinged to the box bymeans of the lugs, d, d, confined in the notches, b 6 by the back, A,and the bottom, E, yieldingly pressed against the bottom of the box,said bottom being hinged upon the lugs, I)", W, by means of hooks, e,6', opening in a forward direction and held upon the lugs by means ofthe back, A, said bottom also extending downward and forward in theshape of an open feeding-trough, 6 substantially as described.

HENRY L. FERRIS. Witnesses:

LAURENCE E. NORTON, J OHN L. KINsoN.

